I wrote a lot of pieces in 2020! As we close out the year, I want to share a short list of my favorites. (thread)

In March, while we all watched in horror as the Trump administration botched the initial response to the pandemic, I wrote for @Independent about the bizarre and unjust access many healthy celebrities gained to COVID tests, which were quite scarce. https://t.co/jdKj5CIALt
In April, when it was apparent Joe Biden was on his way to winning the nomination, I wrote for @washingtonpost on why progressives should have optimism about a Biden White House. https://t.co/Sw5aPZiMLV
In June, the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling affirming employment protections for LGBTQ people. It's cause for celebration, but as I wrote for @Cosmopolitan: this is a mere fraction of LGBTQ equality. We *must* pass the Equality Act. https://t.co/UuZFxLAVrs
That same month brought controversy as J.K. Rowling seemed to be completely unaware of the violence and discrimination faced by trans and non-binary people. So, I wrote about my own experiences in that vein for @USAToday in the hopes of educating folks: https://t.co/kYqvRukfOs
In September, it was reported that Trump insulted American war dead, calling them "losers" and "suckers". I wrote for @USAToday about my experiences on a casket team at Dover. This is the most widely read piece I've written anywhere. I'm quite proud of it. https://t.co/7xwjGWRXPt
In October, SNL gently mocked Joe Biden about LGBTQ issues under the assumption he's old and uninformed. In response, I wrote for @USAToday about his strong history on LGBTQ rights and why his administration will be the most pro-LGBTQ ever. https://t.co/AfwGlN0CRU
Election Night brought a lot of anxiety to so many folks, but in the days afterward, it was pretty clear that LGBTQ candidates performed remarkably well, particularly trans and non-binary candidates. I wrote about it for @Independent: https://t.co/ZXvWKhgRxF
Finally, I wrote about the happiest day in recent memory: when news outlets universally (and finally) declared Joe Biden the President-elect and Kamala Harris the VP-elect. Knowing the tough work ahead of all of us, I took a moment to celebrate. https://t.co/WXJ60bUNpM
If you like all this, I've just started a Substack for 2021. My dream is to make a living from writing someday. But first, I'd like to earn your paid subscription, which is why it's free to sign up. And if you choose a paid subscription, THANK YOU: https://t.co/NIxt4FEL6K

More from Twitter

A lot of people are trying to figure out what UCP means by putting this biblical quote out into the twitter verse at Christmas.

Many have piped up with commentary and criticized the mix of religion and politics. A convention long held in Canada.


The quote is often repeated at Christmas. “A child is born...” makes reference to the birth of Jesus. Makes sense.

But what does it mean?

Christians (and other religious observers with their religious texts) have made an art form out of interpreting what passages mean.

To those most radically devout (some might say zealously faithful), hidden divine meanings are gleaned from “correctly” reading the bible.

That’s what Dominionists believe. That god himself wrote the bible. Through inspiration of the actual authors, & only they can interpret.

And thus, the “inerrant“ bible serves as a strict road map to save ones soul.

Many devout Christians view the passage as a prophecy made centuries before the birth of Christ. A promise made by god through one of his prophets. Jews interpret the passage very differently.

The Anglican Priest is (obviously) correct about this being supersessionism, and a form of Anti-Semitism.

Troublesome as it is for a Canadian provincial govt to be tweeting out Anti-Semitic propaganda, that’s not the only meaning this passage has for Dominionist Christians.
My 10 most popular tweets from 2020

Happy New Year everybody!

[THREAD] ⬇️

1/ Thread on how American Express


2/ Thread on how Coca-Cola makes


3/ Thread explaining popular software


4/ On consistency
After hearing about @JanelSGM from @csallen, I spent the past few hours digging into her Twitter feed to see how she has been building Newsletter OS in public, from ideation to launch.

Here are some highlights in chronological order and what you can learn from the process:

1/ August 5 2020: Janel digs into '50+ newsletters' (note the number to build credibility) and creates a thread to discuss the lessons learnt. She also mentions that this is for a side project, which raises awareness of something she may be working


2/ August 5 2020 (cont): Each tweet in the thread is focused on a key message, with clear pointers for newsletter writers to


3/ September 1 2020: Janel tweeted about #buildinginpublic (note the hashtag) with @pabloheredia24 for @makerpad's challenge. While the project is https://t.co/tMb1qCnxVY and not NewsletterOS, Janel is getting in the reps on how to build in

4/ October 18 2020: Janel hints at building her new product using @NotionHQ and @gumroad. But instead of telling the audience directly what the product is, she invites her audience to take a guess.

You May Also Like

This is a pretty valiant attempt to defend the "Feminist Glaciology" article, which says conventional wisdom is wrong, and this is a solid piece of scholarship. I'll beg to differ, because I think Jeffery, here, is confusing scholarship with "saying things that seem right".


The article is, at heart, deeply weird, even essentialist. Here, for example, is the claim that proposing climate engineering is a "man" thing. Also a "man" thing: attempting to get distance from a topic, approaching it in a disinterested fashion.


Also a "man" thing—physical courage. (I guess, not quite: physical courage "co-constitutes" masculinist glaciology along with nationalism and colonialism.)


There's criticism of a New York Times article that talks about glaciology adventures, which makes a similar point.


At the heart of this chunk is the claim that glaciology excludes women because of a narrative of scientific objectivity and physical adventure. This is a strong claim! It's not enough to say, hey, sure, sounds good. Is it true?